20,000 Afghans Living on US Military Bases, Tens of Thousands More ‘Being Processed’

Approximately 20,000 Afghan refugees have been housed at military bases across the U.S., with more than 40,000 additional refugees at bases overseas being processed, according to a new report.

Eight locations in Indiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin are providing temporary housing to Afghan refugees — including those who helped the U.S. military, CBS News reported Wednesday.

The sites now have a capacity of about 32,000, but the government is working to increase that to 50,000 by Sept. 15, according to the report.

“As of Wednesday morning, the data reviewed by CBS News showed there were about 4,300 Afghan evacuees at Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas, about 3,500 at Joint Base Mcguire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, 3,300 at Fort Pickett in Virginia, 1,700 at Fort Lee, Virginia and about 600 in Quantico, Virginia. Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico received its first group of more than 100 evacuees on Tuesday,” CBS reported.

“On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced a new housing site at Camp Atterbury in Indiana, which has yet to receive refugees.”

In a Twitter post Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Greg Pence, an Indiana Republican, said that camp would be built to support 5,000 Afghans displaced by the war. – READ MORE